


Adoption

by AnselaJonla



Series: Prompt fills [56]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Reddit Prompt, r/writingprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26463541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnselaJonla/pseuds/AnselaJonla
Summary: A fic written for a prompt on the r/WritingPrompts subreddit:[WP]There's a manticore (lion with bat wings and scorpion tail) on your front lawn.
Series: Prompt fills [56]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1097823
Kudos: 1





	Adoption

I rub my eyes and stare for a few seconds. Then I pinch myself. Okay, that _hurt_. This isn't a dream. There really is a freaking manticore on my lawn. An honest to Echidna _manticore_ on my lawn, leathery wings sprawled across the grass.

Higher creatures are usually pretty good at avoiding human areas, meaning the average person will never even get a glimpse of them. Dragons are the exceptions, with the giant attention hogs frequently landing on parks and school playing fields in order to get the adoration they believe is their Echidna-given right.

I take another look at the manticore on my lawn. It looks... wrong, somehow. The wings are crooked, and that dark green patch on the grass is the wrong side to be the manticore's shadow.

Great, I have an _injured_ manticore on my lawn.

I call the RSPCA, but the lines are all engaged. I could try again, but... what if the manticore is _really_ badly injured. It must be, to have taken refuge in a human area. They're really not fond of us, after all. They only stopped hunting humans, legend says, because it was ordered by Echidna herself. She foresaw the destruction of her children if peace was not made, and so she brokered one enforced by her divine will.

I grab my first aid kit and a couple of towels and slip out of the front door, using my leg to stop my Staffie from following me. She's a loyal little beast, but dumb as a box of rocks and given to protectiveness. I don't want her needlessly antagonising a higher creature, especially one that could crush her with a single paw.

She could probably crush _me_ with said paw, to be honest. Manticores are at least twice as large as the lions that they share their basic shape with, and I'd estimate this one is even bigger than that. Her eyes track me as I walk slowly towards her, and that sting-tipped tail twitches menacingly. She doesn't lift it though, so I kneel down next to her.

I don't know what's made the wound in her side, but it is _massive_. Bigger than my head, and still bleeding sluggishly. I definitely don't have a plaster big enough for this. It's probably going to take most of my bottle of wound disinfectant just to clean it off. And I only restocked my first aid kit yesterday, damnit.

I search for the right words in my mind. I don't think dumping a bottle of TCP on this injury would lead to me living much longer. It does tend to sting a little bit, especially when undiluted like this will be. No one ever teaches you how to speak to a manticore though, but they're said to be as proud as dragons and I know how to speak to _them_.

"Madam Manticore, I need to clean this wound. The liquid will cause you some pain, but it is necessary to stop the wound from festering."

The tail flicks upwards and stops behind my neck, and the manticore raises her head and fixes me with one great, unblinking eye. I can feel her judging me, looking down into my very soul, and I don't dare look away. I just know that to do so means instant death.

Eventually she lays her head back down, and her tail returns to rest. I gulp and reach up to pour the liquid on. I see a curtain flicker out of the corner of my eye, and know that my neighbours have started to take notice of what is happening. Not one of them will have the guts to come out and offer their assistance. Definitely not the piece of shit at number 12, who has previously expressed his opinion that all creatures, both higher and lower, should be exterminated.

Having this beautiful lady here is probably his worst nightmare. And she is beautiful, even wounded. Her fur is soft, where it's not matted with ichor, her wings have subtle patterns across the leathery membranes, and the tail is a dark, gleaming red.

A small moue of pain escapes from the manticore as I carefully pour the antiseptic liquid over the wound, making sure to get it all over the cut, until it runs clear. As the dried ichor washes from the edge, I can see that it's a very ragged wound, and deeper in some parts than others. I think one of my towels might cover it, if I use all of the medical tape on the roll to hold it onto her fur. Will medical tape stick to fur? The vet always shaves wherever he works on Zara. I don't think I'd get away with shaving a manticore's fur.

"It was a male, young one," she says, making me jump. I wasn't expecting her to speak. Manticores rarely waste words on humans. "I refused his advances, and he attacked me for it."

I scowl. "That's horrible."

"It is. Had his sire taught him manners, his body would not lie broken on a hillside, his life wasted before it had fully begun." She shifts uneasily. "And I would not be here, among humans who hate and fear my kind."

"I don't hate you," I blurt out before I can stop myself. Contradicting a higher creature, _great_ idea.

"If you did, then you would not still live," she rumbles, amusement tinging her tone. "You fear me though. That is wise, you are defenceless against me, even as injured as I am. Yet you are courageous, to approach despite that fear."

I can hear sirens approaching. The high pitched tones of police, the deeper tones of fire, and the unique scream of the Creatures Division. Someone called 999 then. At least _I_ tried the RSPCA first.

My visitor lifts her head again, looking to the sky. "Assistance comes," she says. Before I can ask what she means, a shadow crosses the sun, and the slow beat of wings fills the air.

A dragon delicately sets down in the road, somehow fitting between the parked cars on both sides of the street. The insignia of the Creature Division has been painted onto each of its shoulders and its chest. I gape at the sight.

"Show off lizards. Some of them work with humans for the attention," my visitor explains in a soft voice. She raises it to speak again. "Buzz off firehead, I'm not causing any problems."

"You are alarming people with your mere presence. Your kind don't usually consent to mix with humans," the dragon replied, his voice like gravel.

"I crashed here after being injured. I'll leave once I'm fit." She tries to gain her feet, but flops back down. "However long that takes."

"Hmph." The dragon carefully steps closer and looks at my visitor properly. "That right wing is _clearly_ broken. How you got here from the Peak District colony is beyond me. You cannot stay _here_ until it heals."

"It wasn't broken until I landed, you overgrown lizard." She flicks her left wing a couple of times. "And I fail to see why I cannot remain here."

"Because this is a human residential area, and your kind are not known for... amicable relations. You would not liked being gawped at by every human child within walking distance."

She snarls and her tails raises, quivering angrily. "Human adoration is not solely reserved for _your_ kind either, dragon. If I wish to remain here, then remain here I will, whether children come to visit or not."

A puff of smoke escapes from the dragon's snout. "And what will you do for food. This human, as brave as she is, cannot possibly provide for your needs. You probably eat as much in a day as she does in an entire _week_ , and all of that meat."

I feel hands pulling me away from the burgeoning argument. The human element of the Creature Division have arrived. My visitor roars and swipes at them in warning.

"Do _not_ treat my host with such rudeness and rough handling. She will remain if she wishes, you will not remove her against her will." She turns back to the dragon. "And nor will you remove _me_ against mine. I, Lenora, declare it so."

The dragon grumbles and rumbles again. "Echidna preserve me from stubborn felines." He looks directly in my direction. "Since cat-brain refuses to move, she'll have to stay here. A creature-specialist vet will come by soon, and someone will be in contact with details on where to obtain food for her.

He chuckles, a small jet of flame flicking out. "Congratulations, you've been adopted by a manticore. Good luck."


End file.
